Rocking This Planet Like Whoa!!!!

Good Evening Friends!

Let me take a moment to catch my breath…it’s been an incredible weekend to say the least. Youth Winter Retreat #1 is officially in the books now. I suppose I can give you a recap of what all went down at the good old Hidden Valley Scout Reservation but first, I have to turn up some David Cook tunes. He’s good some pretty solid stuff that I haven’t been able to stop listening to lately. SO…..here we go!!!

Friday Afternoon: A team of leaders and I took a small group of students up for the early departure. We set up camp, prepared dinner, and waited for the arrival of the rest of the students. 33 students. 10 Leaders=4 Days of mass chaos-all that good jazz. 

Friday Evening: The rest of the student’s arrived and we kicked off “Band Together”-A Military boot camp weekend geared towards strengthening the students physically and spiritually. Dan Foxwell, the awesome MS leader that he is, kicked off the 1st session shouting at the students, which stirred them all to a frenzy so much that it that closely reminded me of the movie “Major Payne” with Damon Wayans (see photo)

Late Friday evening/Early Saturday Morning: Bathroom pranks. One eye open/one eye closed sleep. Wonderful sleep bag w/ Ipod=bliss. 

Saturday Morning: Prompt wake up from Major Foxwell at 6:30am. Total sleep for the average students=4-5 hours. Breakfast and 1st session. Slow to get going but students started responding and working together in the sessions. The Weather was beautiful the entire weekend. We we’re truly blessed for that. Lindsey Kurtz, Major Dan, and John Nicholas totally owned the morning activities. They are truly good people to have on your side. 

Saturday Afternoon: We kicked off the afternoon with an awesome session with the students. At this point in time, HS and MS is split up with the HS group having seniority so they stayed in the same facility while the MS students/leaders we’re constantly walking to and from the complex. 

3:00 PM Saturday: 8 on 8 no holds barred football game in the snow. Lambeau Field couldn’t hold a snuff compared to what we played in. The tops of our heads looked like my grandfather’s white haired head. Bless his Heart. It was Major Dan’s Team v. El Capitan J-Maat’s (as many of the HS student’s call me) team. Touchdown after touchdown. Big play after big play. Student’s on both teams made stellar plays and they all rocked my socks off. In the end…El Capitan J-Maat’s Team 5 vs. Major Dan’s Team 3. It was completely blissful! 

Saturday Evening: Throughout the weekend, our focus was on getting back to the source of everything meaningful in this life-our relationship in Jesus Christ and adhering to the code for our lives, the Holy Word. We couldn’t encourage enough the importance of daily diving into the word of life and seeing God moving, teaching, and opening our eyes to what He has in store for us. I was amazed at the knowledge of the MS students all day. We have a six grader who knew the 3 kinds of love according to the Old Testament Hebrew tradition (how many of us know that?) In the evening session, more and more students were racing to get to the text so they could read it first. God was rocking the house most definitely. Other’s volunteered to lift the entire group up in prayer. They really banded together. 

9:30 PM-DARKNESS ENGULFS THE CAMP….I SUPPOSE I SHOULD STOP WRITING IN CAPS NOW…now we start the ever so famous nighttime capture the flag game…HS vs. MS (plus me and some leaders to even it out a bit). After much frostbite, broken limbs, and a few lost students-we ended up in a standstill with no declared winner. We all headed back upset because nobody won. A MS student and I were in enemy territory the entire game, frozen because we couldn’t get to the flag that was under a table guarded by two HS students…

The whole part above with the frostbite, broken limbs, and missing students was purely just intended to see if you we’re still reading this post…If I got a response like, “Whoa…wait a second. Rewind. He didn’t just say that did he?” then I’ve succeeded and I’ll continue on and stop rambling. 

Late Saturday night/early Sunday Morning: No pranks. Exhaustion sets in for the students and I’m thrilled because I was out like a baby at 11:30…missed opportunity for students #1 to prank the vulnerable youth pastor. 

Sunday Morning: To honor everyone who was back in H-Burg worshipping, we decided to have a worship set much like Vessel only we’d be doing it acoustic. Lindsey Kurtz and G Owens stepped up huge and helped lead worship with me. I have to tell you all the truth. It’s incredible when you have taught the student many of the songs and then you finally have a time where it’s you, the worship leader, who messes up the song and the student is right on in the first place. I’ll take that everyday because i know he’s learning and growing as a wonderful disciple of God. There’s beautiful irony there eh? 

Sunday Afternoon: Students all over the camp. It’s all a big blur because I was in the zone preparing for the closing section that’ll take place in a few hours after dinner. It’s crunch time and this is where God and Satan are at the forefront of our retreat. God is breaking these students for His Kingdom, and Satan is trying to hold it all in, trying desperately to keep them from shining, to keep them from reaching their peers, their families, our community. 

Sunday Evening: I asked God for an out-pouring. He gave us a flood. What an unbelievable night. The Holy Spirit rained down on us and I could feel the students given way to our marvelous maker. The challenge was to give the gospel away. To deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him. To propel this world heavenward through Jesus Christ living and moving in our lives. And the most beautiful think about this weekend wasn’t our living facility. It wasn’t the snow-covered field we played football on. It wasn’t the awesome food we prepared. It was seeing these student’s be filled with the overwhelming truth of our Savior. It was feeling the Holy Spirit dwell in our presence. It was seeing students shrug off jokes and games and choosing to sit quietly trying to figure out what was happening inside them. It was having student’s ask those hard questions of why one Man would carry the weight of the world, the sin of all mankind upon himself for us. It was having student’s challenge their peers to take this gospel past the walls of our training facility, past the comforts of being out in God’s Country in the middle of the woods and into hostile schools, disagreeing home fronts, and a world that says, “It’s all about me.” Many of our student’s got it. My prayers are for them. Some might not have and my prayers are for them as well. And I’ll continue to give this life away for Christ’s sake. He demands that we give this gospel away. We give our lives and our love away. It’s what Jesus Christ himself did for us, and I want to be found obedient in His eyes. 

It was truly an incredible weekend. We skied on Monday at Roundtop. We got the student’s home by 6:00 PM. Praise God for safety, for strength, for patience, for wisdom, and for love. I’m continually amazed at how God works in myself and the leaders despite our weaknesses. That despite our inadequacies, he says, “Let me work in You.” I also know that He asks that we come to him with heavy and weary hearts. I believe that His yoke fits perfectly, and that he gives us Light and Love to keep on pressing on to move this world heavenward. Let’s rock this planet like whoa shall we? Who’s with me?

In His Dust,

Josh